Gunota Headlines
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Destiny gashapon stuff
Another Yahoo! Japan Auction for chibi gashapon that confirms that the name of the masked man is indeed "Neo".
Some pics at E-Plamo showing that the PG Strike comes with a 1/60 Aile Skygrasper as well as what looks to be Hisashi Hirai-designed Armor Schneiders.
Softbank Games put up their own photo report of the event.
People wondering what the 2 secret Pepsi Gundam bottlecaps were can see this Yahoo! Japan Auction.
Monday, August 30, 2004
Someone put up a low-quality but completely watchable copy on Ranobe (13.4 MB zipped mpg) so people who've been waiting to see it, go there.
Sunday, August 29, 2004
SD Gundam Force at IGN
Old news if you frequent IGN but a couple of weeks back, they put up a fairly detailed article on the PS2 SDGF game and added a good deal more pics in their screenshots gallery.
Info from 2ch's Doko Yorimo Hayai Gunpla thread states the following are planned:
HG Force Impulse (November, 1,575 yen)
HG Zaku Warrior (November, 1,050 yen)
1/100 Force Impulse (December, 2,310 yen)
1/60 Force Impulse (December, 5,250 yen)
A link to retailer Taniguchi Jouet Gros Network looks to confirm it.
Saturday, August 28, 2004
The site of KekKe Corporation, a company involved with talent management, lists Hisafumi Oda for the role of Vino Dupre.
And on this 2ch thread, an event report states that Hiroki Takahashi will be playing the role of Arthur Trine, a deputy captain.
Scans from The Sneaker revealed info on SEED DESTINY Astray. Once again the same people who worked on the previous Astray series will return. Fans can follow Destiny Astray in 3 formats: The manga version appearing in Gundam Ace drawn by Koichi Tokita, the novel version appearing in The Sneaker, and the photo story version appearing in Dengeki Hobby Magazine. Tomohiro Chiba will be in charge of the story/scenario, Junichi Akutsu (BEECRAFT) as the mechanical designer, Yoichi Ueda as the character designer, and Tsuyoshi Ogata as the illustrator for the novel version.
The Junk Guild's Lowe and Serpent Tail's Gai will reappear along with the new main character, Jess Libre, and his unnamed partner. A new "civilian-use" Astray MS will appear based on this scan.
Friday, August 27, 2004
One or two CD retailers like 7Dream.com are saying that Nami Tamaki's previously unnamed ED song for SEED Destiny will be titled "Reason". It goes on sale November 3rd.
Slight update on the official site for the game in the "About", "System" and "MS" sections.
Sony Music Online Japan says that TM Revolution's "ignited" single will be released on October 27th.
Thursday, August 26, 2004
One the website of the Tokyo International Fantastic Film Festival 2004, the English title of the film is given as "Mobile Suit Z Gundam: A New Translation -Heirs To The Stars-". The running time is given as 94 minutes.
Animeondvd.com says November 23rd for $199.98. Extras are listed and shown on their page for the release.
The Origin - Prologue Char & Sayla Edition
- The Origin takes a break as Yas prepares for the original Gundam story on Char and Sayla's past. Instead various new arts drawn and interview of Yas were included in its place.
C.D.A. - File 20 - Hostage
- EFF prisoners make their escape from Axis. Young Haman takes on group of EFF MS, but is captured by them.
X-Astray
- X-Astray officially concluded as Plea and Kanard confront each other for the last time. SEED DESTINY Astray, an official SEED DESTINY MSV, will start with the next issue.
Crossbone Gundam - Satellite of Apes
- Perhaps, one of the whackiest story ever created. EFF F91 ace pilot, Captain Harrison, fights against newtype-monkeys piloting a Zaku-variant MS. These monkeys were part of Principality of Zeon's secret genetic-engineered monkey project.
Gundam Legacy
- This issue takes place in late Dec UC0079 as EFF make their last Africa Offensive campaign against Zeon. The story evolves around Midnight Fenrir with Dessert Rommel and Lt. Agar making their appearance.
Gundam Best 10 Poll - Your favorite Gundam
1) Zeta Gundam
2) RX-78-2 Gundam
3) Freedom
4) Nu Gundam
5) Gundam Mk-II
6) Wing Custom Zero
7) GP02
8) Turn A
9) GP01 Zeph
10) F91
11) Justice
12) Deathscythe
13) God Gundam
14) RX-79[G]
Other Tidbits:
- The official Zeta movie website will start having contents on Sept 10.
- Interview of Shigeaki Saegusa, the music composer for Zeta, ZZ, CCA, and Z Movie. Part of this interview will be featured in the near future.
- Gundam X Memorial DVD Boxset ad pic - The Boxset will include box illustration by Junya Ishigaki, 120 page booklet, and 30 page illustration booklet.
Pam's Homepage reports the main cast as far as has been officially announced (as opposed to rumored) so though this might not be news for some, these are the voices:
Shin Asuka - Kenichi Suzumura (Shin Kudou from Macross Zero)
Lunamaria Hawke - Maaya Sakamoto (Hitomi from Vision Of Escaflowne, Reika from Rahxephon)
Stellar Loussier - Houko Kuwashima (Flay & Natarle from Gundam SEED)
Sting Oakley - Junichi Suwabe (Greed from Full Metal Alchemist)
Auel Neider - Masakazu Morita (Tidus from Final Fantasy X)
Meyrin Hawke - Fumiko Orikasa (Seras Victoria from Hellsing, Kim Hotaru from Rahxephon)
Gilbert Dullindal - Shuuichi Ikeda (Char Aznable from MSG)
Talia Gladys - Mami Koyama (Kycilia Zabi from MSG)
Rey Za Burrel - Toshihiko Seki (Rau Le Creuset from SEED)
Earth Forces masked man (Neo Roanoke?) - Takehito Koyasu (Mu La Flaga from SEED)
Athrun Zala - Akira Ishida
Cagalli Yula Athha - Naomi Shindou
A report from Pepperidge on Toon Zone makes a brief mention that ZZ might be the next Gundam series for North America.
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
A Bandai PDF states that Gundam F91 is coming out Nov. 9th for $29.98. This is different from the solicitation from Previews a short while back which had a listing for a slightly more expensive Special Edition version.
Also coming out the same day is a UC movies boxset for $69.98 which includes the MSG movie trilogy, Char's Counterattack, and 08th MS Team: Miller's Report.
Nishi-Nippon Honmamon Association
Ryutaro's Modeler Life
Toybox DX 1, 2
Chou Kantan Gunpla
Doll's Room
Robo-Bu
Ore Michi
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
This will be the last set of pics I'll be putting up for this promo. Pretty much low-res shots of the entire thing that showed up on Japanese boards.
Sunrise's After War Gundam X Web pre-opens today. The actual content will be up on September 10th.
These will begin showing up in Hobby Japan's January issue. Mecha designs once again by Kunio Okawara, mecha commentary by Shigeru Morita, and project collaboration by Tomohiro Chiba.
Seems as though the same person reponsible for the early screencaps also made a few moving gifs of the First Attack vid. These will probably be obsolete in a day or two anyway but if you want to see them:
First Attack 1
First Attack 2
First Attack 3
Lineart turning up on imgboards:
Rumored name: Neo Roanoke
Lunamaria
Rumored names: Youlan & Vino
And for people who haven't seen it, MBS's SEED Destiny streaming library site also features a slightly different version of the original Zero Attack trailer in RealMedia and Windows Streaming formats.
Monday, August 23, 2004
Nikkei Characters! recently published a Gundam mook on the history and business of Gundam. Besides covering each Gundam series one by one, the book also includes interviews of the Big Three (Yoshiyuki Tomino, Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, and Kunio Okawara), Shuichi Ikeda (Char), Masashi Hirose (Ramba Ral), Kazunori Ueno (Bandai's CGO), etc.
Comments from CGO Ueno:
- Believes Gundam has a high potential in the American market.
- However pointed out that it's hard to send the message of each series in a straight forward way due to America's censorship laws. He cited an example where characters are forbidden to point a gun at another character on air.
- Mentioned America's first season (26 eps) of SD Gundam Force started out good, but the business opportunity ended up being smaller than in Japan.
- Personally wants to return to Gundam's origins and work on a new Gundam for America. He said it's time to think about an "American version of Gundam" arranged like First Gundam (MSG). He used Power Rangers as an example of an Americanized-Japanese series becoming a big hit in the US.
- Mentioned some of the SEED-MSV MS are planned to appear in DESTINY.
- Mentioned the possibility of DESTINY DVD's appearing by end of this year.
Following are the figures and poll results conducted by the magazine:
Average TV Rating (Greater Tokyo Area)
MSG : 4.58%
Zeta : 6.39%
ZZ : 6.02%
V : 2.88%
G : 4.02%
Wing : 4.25%
X : 2.73%
TAG : 2.84%
SEED : 6.1%
Your Most Favorite Series (same rank indicates a tie)
1)MSG
2)Zeta
3)CCA
4)TAG
4)0083
6)SEED
7)G
8)V
9)08th MS Team
10)Wing
11)X
12)0080
13)ZZ
13)F91
Your Least Favorite Series (don't ask what happened to #3 or #12, or why there are even #15 and #16, the numbering is "as is" from the mook)
1)SEED
2)G
4)TAG
5)ZZ
5)Wing
7)X
8)V
9)Zeta
9)0080
11)0083
13)08th MS Team
13)CCA
15)F91
16)MSG
Gundam Game Sales Record
1) MSG Renpou vs Zeon DX - 950,000 copies (PS2 Dec 2002)
2) SD Gundam SD Sengokuden Kuni Tori Monogatari - 920,000 (GameBoy March 1990)
3) SD Gundam G Generation - 730,000 (PS May 1998)
4) SG Gundam 2 Capsule Senki - 660,000 (Famicon June 1989)
5) MSG Meguri Ai Sora - 640,000 (PS2 Sep 2003)
6) MSZ AEUG vs Titans - 630,000 (PS2 Dec 2003)
7) SD Gundam G Generation NEO - 590,000 (PS2 Nov 2002)
8) SD Gundam Knight Gundam Monogatari - 580,000 (Famicon Aug 1990)
9) MSZ Hot Scramble - 570,000 (Famicon Aug 1986)
10) SD Gundam G Generation Zero - 570,000 (PS Feb 2000)
Bandai's Past Top Character Goods sales rank
2002
1) Gundam - 20 billion yen
2) Sentai series - 11 billion yen
3) Kamen Rider - 9.4 billion yen
4) Ultraman - 9.4 billion yen
5) Digimon - 7.9 billion yen
2003
1) Gundam - 27.2 billion yen
2) Kamen Rider - 13.9 million yen
3) Sentai Series - 13.1 billion yen
4) One Piece - 6.2 billion yen
5) Anpanman - 6 billion yen
2004
1) Gundam - 32 billion yen
2) Sentai Series - 13 billion yen
3) Kamen Rider - 12 billion yen
4) Anpanman - 8 billion yen
5) Dragon Ball Z - 5.6 billion yen
Bandai America 2003 Sales figure: $213 million
1)Power Rangers - $117 million
2)Gunpla - $26 million
3)Digimon - $8 million
Starting in Dengeki Hobby Magazine's November issue is the latest spinoff, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny Astray. Character designs are once again by Youichi Ueda.
The text says "September, C.E. 0071: The war between Naturals and Coordinators which enveloped the entire Earth sphere saw an end for the time being. But more small conflicts and terrorist acts occur frequently and the state of the world continued under these critical circumstances. This is the story of a young battlefield cameraman and his partner who put their lives on the line to tell the truth about such a battleground."
According to this post on 2ch's Seed netabare thread, SEED Destiny Astray will depict the 2 years between Destiny and the original series. The Kouichi Tokita version will begin next month in Gundam Ace. Canard also returns in an unexpected mecha?
The Dengeki Hobby version will be a photo story while the Gundam Ace one will obviously be a manga. A third version in The Sneaker will be a novelization.
Sunday, August 22, 2004
There have been long-standing rumors about Shuuichi Ikeda (Char Aznable) playing the role of Gilbert Dullindal. People who supposedly attended Chara Hobby's SEED Destiny cast unveiling seem to be insisting that this is true so I'm finally posting it here. Other seiyuu rumored for other specific roles were apparently not confirmed at the event.
One person on Char Custom's BBS who attended reports that Ikeda, Toshihiko Seki (Rau Le Creuset from SEED), and Takehito Koyasu (Mu La Flaga from SEED) were "unofficially decided on" although roles for the latter two aren't mentioned.
Edit: Moved some pics and deleted fuzzy old ones when I found better quality versions so I hope that's not too confusing for people who already clicked around here.
While photos were apparently forbidden at the event, someone still managed to get a few pics from the new First Attack promo. So fuzzy pics ahoy:
Chaos Gundam gunbarrels?
Saviour's head
Saviour transformed
Gilbert and others
Abyss' head
Sword Impulse
Calamity attacks Orb
Shin's sister
Shin in the past
Chaos transformed
Minerva's bridge
Another set of better quality ones showed up:
Shin's sister again
Shin bawls
Shin still bawling
Shin yells
Athrun, doing his best to end the Quattro Bageena comparisons
Shin in cockpit
Gilbert and others again
Lunamaria and Gunner Zaku Warrior
Shin's wacky hat
Saviour and Athrun
Whoops. Family died.
Doh! That was Lunamaria, not Shin
More Chaotic gunbarrels
Cagalli and Athrun
Zaku Warrior
More Zaku Warrior
Auel & Abyss firing
Someone on the Japanese boards noted that the 2nd pic with Shin's sister also confirms that Toshihiko Sahashi will be returning to do the music for SEED Destiny.
Saturday, August 21, 2004
The always reliable Pam's Homepage has what looks to be the first photo report from day 1 of Chara Hobby 2004. Direct links don't work on pics there but they're hard to miss if you go to the site.
Another one with lots of Gundam merchandise pics at Toy News International.
Some other Chara Hobby exclusive merchandise can be seen popping up on Yahoo! Japan's steadily growing SEED Destiny auctions.
Game Watch has a more general overview, including a pic of the Gundam Battle Operating Simulator.
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: Inheritor Of The Stars will premiere at the Tokyo International Fantastic Film Festival at 3pm on October 17th. Advance tickets go on sale September 11th.
RGZ also mentions the appearance of a new "Chogokin Metal Material Model" Gundam toyline. Called the GQ Model (Gundam Quality Model), the first figure will be the Force Impulse Gundam. The price will be 5,775 yen and it'll be out in December.
Again, from RGZ:
Dengeki Hobby will go weekly starting in mid-November for four issues and then back to its usual monthly format. Each of these will come with Advance Of Zeta Gunpla (pic from Mokei.net).
11/18 - RX-121-1 Gundam TR-1 Hazel Kai (780 yen)
11/25 - YRMS-106+BL-85X By-Zack TR-2 [Big Wig] (830 yen)
12/2 - RX-121-2 Gundam TR-1 Hazel Unit 2 (830 yen)
12/9 - NRX-044[R] Prototype Asshimar TR-3 [Kehaar] (830 yen)
More on this from RGZ...
6 stages: Inside a colony, an asteroid base, orbiting the Earth, a city on Earth, a wrecked city, and an underground base complex. Currently, 3 MS are playable (the Gundam, Guncannon, and GM) though Banpresto is working on getting another in there. It features a file disk saving system so that users can save their progress at various arcade centers. The simulator itself is basically a chair with two joysticks and pedals. A playable version will be available at the 42nd Amusement Machine Show on September 4th. The omnipresent Toru Furuya will be there as well. It seems as though it'll be released in the Spring.
Friday, August 20, 2004
Scans from Hobby Japan showing the transformed modes of all the Gundams.
1, 2, 3
Additionally, the side text on the second scan says that the new "First Attack" SEED Destiny promo will be available from Flet's Square starting from August 25th.
RightStuf lists the release date for the first volume of Astray R from Tokyopop as February 8. This differs from what Amazon had listed. Thanks to DVD bargain hunter Chris Guanche for the info.
According to RGZ, who is presently attending Chara Hobby 2004, the following kits are announced. Pics courtesy of Mokei.net's uploader:
MG Ball ver Ka (December, 2,100 yen)
HGUC G-Armor (November according to the convention, October according to HJ)
MG Wing 0 Custom (October)
PG Strike (November)
HG X Astray (aka Dreadnaught Gundam, October, 1,575 yen)
Thanks to a scan from Hobby Japan, these voice actors are confirmed:
Shin Asuka - Kenichi Suzumura (Shin Kudou from Macross Zero)
Lunamaria Hawke - Maaya Sakamoto (Hitomi from Vision Of Escaflowne, Reika from Rahxephon)
Stellar Loussier - Houko Kuwashima (Flay & Natarle from Gundam SEED)
Sting Oakley - Junichi Suwabe (Greed from Full Metal Alchemist)
Auel Neider - Masakazu Morita
Meyrin Hawke - Fumiko Orikasa (Seras Victoria from Hellsing, Kim Hotaru from Rahxephon)
Updates to be made as more info comes in.
While it had some content before, the official site for the PS2 game is now fully open.
Newtype's official site lists the contents of the upcoming issue of Gundam Ace. The thing that's caught people's eyes is what looks to be the confirmation of a MG Ver. Ka Ball.
At Chara Hobby 2004 this weekend, at the same time they'll be announcing the cast for the new series, Sunrise's site says that a new promotion vid entitled "First Attack" will be shown.
Thursday, August 19, 2004
Discstation lists an official Gundam X DVD boxset to be released in Japan on January 28th. Details given are that it'll be 10 discs, come with a 120-page handbook and a 30-page illustration collection, and that the retail price is 60,000 yen. Mecha designer Junya Ishigaki previously mentioned on his official site that he was doing illustrations for an upcoming DVD box. Speculation by fans in Japan favored Gundam X as the series and it looks like they were right.
Of the current Gundam works after Gundam X (not counting miscellaneous things like MS IGLOO or Green Divers), only Mobile Suit Gundam TV and the original SD Gundam OVA's and movies have yet to see the light of day on DVD in Japan.
Bandai Visual's site confirms the above, though the price there is listed as 63,000 yen.
The latest Previews lists the Mobile Suit Gundam F91 Special Edition DVD as having a $34.98 retail price. The issue shows solicitations for products shipping in November so presumably F91 will be released around then. Thanks to Redcomet at Gundam Watch for pointing out something we completely overlooked.
And according to an interview with Kazunori Ueno, the Chief Gundam Officer, in a special edition of Nikkei Characters! entitled "Adult's Gundam", SEED MSV mecha will be appearing in SEED Destiny. He also seems to imply that the show is aimed at elementary school students which, incidentally, was the stated target audience of SEED according to a Bandai press release from that time.
According to a scan on the Char-Custom blog, Nami Tamaki's ending theme for SEED Destiny is scheduled to air from October to December, which would cover about the first 13 episodes. The song is still yet-to-be titled.
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
Pepsi now has a page up detailing their 25th anniversary Gundam bottlecap campaign. In addition to the bottlecaps, when people send in 5 "application coupons" (proof-of-purchase-style seals on the bottles) and 4,000 yen, they can get a space colony-styled collection stage for the caps. The offer is good until October 18th.
From Bandai's Tamashii Web:
Force Impulse Gundam
Sword Impulse Gundam
Rick Dom
Just a wee bit more info on the Gundam simulator from Softbank Games. The formal name of it is "Mobile Suit Gundam Battle Operating Simulator". No doubt some substantial info about it will be plastered all over the place by this weekend when it's shown off at Chara Hobby 2004.
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Another scan from Famitsu. More MSV units are shown and mentions are made of Survival and VS modes.
After having been down for several weeks due to hacker attacks, Gundam Plus is now back up at www.gun-plus.com.
A 15-second TV commercial started airing for Owaranai Asu E. A copy can be seen at this site (2.52 MB, mpeg). Standard "don't know how long it'll be up for" disclaimer.
Monday, August 16, 2004
First of all, thank you for participating in our survey. We had 657 replies, which is twice as much compared from the first survey. The following are the shortened results along with interesting analysis based on different criteria. If you would like to see the complete results, please check out the txt file.
657 people participated in the Gunota Survey.
Gender:
Male : 624
Female : 33
No surprises here.
Age Group:
10 & under : 8
11-15 : 51
16-20 : 281
21-25 : 195
26-30 : 64
31-35 : 44
36-40 : 8
Over 40 : 4
This reflects the trend from our first survey.
Category that best describes you? (Top5)
1) Fan of all Gundam : 296 (45.1%)
2) UC Fan : 114 (17.4%)
3) SEED Fan : 74 (11.3%)
4) Tomino Gundam Fan : 46 (7%)
5) Zeta Fan : 29 (4.4%)
Close to half said they are fan of all Gundam. SEED had the most votes by a series. F91 failed to receive any votes.
If you add all of the individual UC series and UC Fan, its total are 203 (30.9%).
If you add all of the indiviual AU series and AU Fan, its total are 110 (16.7%).
Which of the following are you looking forward to the most?
Zeta Movie: 53%
SEED DESTINY: 46%
The movie version of the classic TV series, premiering Spring 2005, edges the upcoming TV sequel coming this October.
Breakdown of how each age group voted: (Format- Age: Zeta %/ Destiny %)
10 & Under: 50%/50%
11-15: 43%/56%
16-20: 50%/49%
21-25: 52%/47%
26-30: 65%/34%
31-35: 63%/36%
36-40: 62%/37%
Over 40: 75%/25%
No surprises here.
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being the highest), rate how much you are looking forward to SEED Destiny.
1 : 88
2 : 26
3 : 33
4 : 24
5 : 42
6 : 55
7 : 80
8 : 114
9 : 58
10 : 137
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being the highest), rate how much you are looking forward to Zeta movies?
1 : 21
2 : 5
3 : 12
4 : 9
5 : 42
6 : 39
7 : 73
8 : 104
9 : 101
10 : 251
Product(s) you would like to see more available in English.
Games - 26%
Manga - 25%
Novels - 22%
Reference books - 25%
Votes are evenly spread out.
